Government confirms it is to scrap two-week cancer wait target in NHS England

The government has confirmed that seven NHS England cancer targets are to be scrapped, as the service moves to having three performance standards from October. The new guidelines will move away from what the government termed the “outdated” two-week wait target.

Currently that two-week wait target is not being met. PA Media notes that data published a week ago by NHS England revealed that 261,006 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in June, up 6% on 245,595 in May and 13% year on year from 231,868 in June 2022.

Of the 261,006 patients, 80.5% saw a specialist within two weeks, down from 80.8% in May but below the target of 93%, which was last met in May 2020.

Ten current targets will be consolidated into the following:

– The 28-day faster diagnosis standard, under which patients with suspected cancer who are urgently referred by a GP, screening programme or other route should be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within four weeks.

– The 62-day referral to treatment to ensure patients who have been referred and diagnosed with cancer should start treatment within that timeframe.

– The 31-day decision to treat – patients with a cancer diagnosis, and who have had a decision made on their first or subsequent treatment, should start it within 31 days.

Key events

I did promise not to do A-level result related news on here, as we have it covered live in greater depth by Alexandra Topping over here, but I should point you in the direction of my colleague Sally Weale’s excellent explainer here of why there has been a drop in grades in England.

The sharp drop in grades in A-level results in England this year has little to do with this particular cohort’s ability. It is instead the result of a government strategy to get A-level results back to pre-pandemic levels, after the soaring grade inflation of the Covid years.

The exams regulator in England, Ofqual, came up with the plan after teenagers who did their A-levels in 2020 and 2021 were awarded record grades.

Ministers were concerned that a huge gap was opening up between grades achieved before and since the pandemic, so decided that grades in A-levels and GCSEs must be brought back to pre-pandemic levels. But instead of a sudden drop year-on-year, the government and Ofqual agreed on a more gentle “glide path” back to pre-pandemic grading, spread over two years.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland got their A-level grades today. There was a similar fall in Scottish grades compared to pandemic years when they came out on 8 August.

Read more here: A ‘glide path’ to pre-Covid: why A-level grades are lower in England this year

Tourism visits to Scotland by residents of Great Britain rose by 12% in the first quarter of this year, figures show.

Jointly sponsored by VisitScotland, VisitEngland and VisitWales, the Great Britain Day Visits Survey showed 20.6 million tourism day visits to Scotland from those living in other parts of Great Britain, with a spend of about £956m.

The figure rose from 18.4 million visits in the first three months of 2022 – an increase of 12%.

PA Media reports tourism minister Richard Lochhead said: “Scotland is increasingly seen as an attractive place to visit and we strive to support and work with the tourism and hospitality sector to grow its economic value, while delivering the very best for visitors, businesses, and communities.

Water quality and its impact on life has become a political campaigning issue, with objections to the level of untreated sewage that is being allowed to be pumped into the UK’s waterways and seas. My colleague Clea Skopeliti has this report speaking to people who it has affected:

According to Southern Water’s data, 13 releases have affected Felpham beach since the beginning of May. After a sewage dump during warm, dry weather in mid-June, Felicity Fletcher says she had to shut the windows because of the stench. “The smell of sewage was permeating, it was disgusting. The heat made it worse – normally they dump it when it is raining and you don’t notice it, but the smell was unbearable.

I can’t imagine it’s been good for tourism. We’ve got a Butlin’s on our doorstep – people come here for the beach.

Josh Harris, the head of communications at Surfers Against Sewage, says: “The incompetence of decision-makers and the greed of water companies have eroded one of the great pleasures of our island nation – swimming in our coastal waters.

Read more of Clea Skopeliti’s report here: ‘My daughter started to run a fever …’: Britain’s swimmers on how sewage changed their summer

There is very little diary politics happening today, but Angela Rayner is due to be visiting Glasgow. Ahead of the trip Labour’s deputy leader is quoted in the Daily Record saying:

Working people in Scotland are right to demand better. Faced with a punishing cost of living crisis, an explosion in zero-hours contracts, and a wages crash, governing parties on both sides of the border are failing working people across the whole of the UK.

Scotland’s workers have been left out in the cold as ministers in Westminster and Holyrood engage in endless political battles on internal obsessions.

But it is not inevitable for working people to shoulder the burden of this crisis, and it is not inevitable that working parents must struggle to feed and clothe their children.

At the next general election, there will be a clear choice – between a Labour government, or another five years of Tory incompetence.

But in Scotland, the SNP can only oppose the Tories. Only Labour can boot them out of office.

As you might imagine, those words haven’t gone down well with the SNP. The first minister, Humza Yousaf, has posted on social media to say:

I would remind Angela Rayner that we have engaged constructively with trade unions. That is why we haven’t had any NHS strikes in Scotland, in stark comparison to Labour-run Wales. Will Labour commit to full devolution of employment law should they form the next government?

I would remind Angela Rayner that we have engaged constructively with trade unions. That is why we haven’t had any NHS strikes in Scotland, in stark comparison to Labour-run Wales.

Will Labour commit to full devolution of employment law should they form the next government? https://t.co/z10T6A3rOD

— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) August 17, 2023

Neil Gray, the cabinet secretary for wellbeing, economy, fair work and energy in Scotland, has also chipped in, saying:

Wage growth in Scotland at 8.1% is sitting higher than the rest of the UK, driven by our public sector pay policy and support for fair work. This is just nonsense from Labour. Keir Starmer’s Labour won’t even support workers taking industrial action, so who knows where they stand.

Wage growth in Scotland at 8.1% is sitting higher than the rest of the UK, driven by our public sector pay policy and support for fair work. This is just nonsense from Labour. Keir Starmer’s Labour won’t even support workers taking industrial action, so who knows where they stand https://t.co/rHlN2fXTjP

— Neil Gray MSP (@neilcgray) August 17, 2023

The Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection, where Labour hope to take the seat after Covid rule-breaking MP Margaret Ferrier was removed, will be in the autumn.

Here is a bit more from the official NHS announcement about the changes to cancer targets in England, which it says have been “developed by clinical experts and supported by leading cancer charities”, and which will lead to people being “diagnosed and treated sooner”. It writes:

In line with the recommendation of the 2015 Independent Cancer Taskforce, government has approved that the outdated two-week wait target will be replaced with the faster diagnosis standard from October.

GPs will still refer people with suspected cancer in the same way, but the focus will rightly be on getting people diagnosed or cancer ruled out within 28 days, rather than simply getting a first appointment.

In the last year, over 2 million patients with suspected cancer were diagnosed or received the all-clear within 28 days.

The faster diagnosis standard means NHS services can embrace greater use of new innovations and technology for diagnosing and treating patients.

It supports newer ways of testing where patients with suspected cancer do not necessarily need an appointment first, such as straight to test pathways, remote consultations, and advances in technology like using artificial intelligence and teledermatology to help diagnose skin cancers from photographs in a matter of seconds.

Dr Jesme Fox, the medical director of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, is one of the voices from cancer charities lending their support to the move. She said: “We know the anguish patients and their families can endure waiting for results – every day feels like a lifetime – so we welcome any new measures that focus on reducing that agonising wait, getting a diagnosis and setting patients on the right treatment path sooner.”

In a perhaps unlikely development in the “War on MotoristsTM”, motorists are turning on themselves, as an RAC survey suggests nearly three out of five drivers (58%) want cameras that detect illegally loud vehicles to be rolled out across the UK.

The Department for Transport (DfT) began a £300,000 trial of noise cameras in a handful of areas in England in October last year.

PA Media reports only 22% of respondents to a poll of 1,424 motorists commissioned by the RAC late last year were against the idea.

The RAC head of policy, Simon Williams, said: “Our research with drivers shows there is a very strong desire to put an end to the scourge of excessively noisy vehicles that disturb the peace all around the country.

“It’s plain wrong that those who have fitted their cars with modified exhausts, some motorbike riders and supercar owners can currently just get away with making an unacceptable amount of noise.”

The roads minister Richard Holden said: “Boy racers are an anti-social menace and we have extensively trialled noise camera technology in various parts of the country over the past year.

“We are currently analysing data from the trials and will update in due course on any future measures which will help bring peace and tranquillity back to our towns, cities and villages.”

‘More patients will benefit from a speedier diagnosis’: NHS England clinical director for cancer

The FT is carrying some words from cancer experts who are backing the government’s announced changes for the NHS. Sarah Neville and Lukanyo Mnyanda write:

Prof Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said the faster diagnosis standard already in use would “mean more patients will benefit from a speedier diagnosis or the all-clear within a month, helping to relieve anxieties or enabling treatment to start sooner”.

Hospitals have been asked to work towards a 10-day turnaround when delivering diagnostic test results to patients who have received an urgent referral.

Jacob Lant, chief executive of National Voices, a coalition of health and social care charities, said shifting focus on to the time it took for a diagnosis, and for starting treatment, provided “more meaningful measures of performance from a patient perspective”.

However, the key now would be “to show patients and the wider public a clear trajectory of improvement”, he added.

There was a note of caution, however, from Cancer Research UK, with the organisation’s director of evidence and implementation, Naser Turabi, warning the change “will not address the systemic challenges that face cancer treatment and care”.

Back to the story of the government today confirming in NHS England it is scrapping a two-week target for being seen by a cancer specialist after being referred by a GP. [See 9.05am]

A cancer patient, Carol Fletcher, told Sky News that she believed earlier screening and more staff were key factors to enable the NHS to better tackle cancer.

She told viewers:

They should be looking at testing, they should be looking at screening earlier and more frequently, and that way they will save money in the NHS.

My treatment, which consisted of several surgeries, [and needed] radioactive isotopes, which weren’t always available due to unknown issues with the supply coming from Belgium. Then there’s not enough pathologists to look at my cancerous cells when I’ve had my surgery. There is not enough oncologists.

I’ve put most of my problems down to the the fact that my screening was late. If it was earlier, I wouldn’t have had to have the extensive treatment that I’ve had, which must have cost a fortune for the NHS.

A-level results in England show biggest drop on record

A-level grades awarded to students in England have shown their biggest drop after results plummeted across the board in line with the government’s policy of enforcing a return to pre-pandemic grading.

Five thousand fewer students in England gained three A* grades than in 2022, while the proportion of top A*-A grades shrank from 35.9% to 26.5% within a year.

Headteachers said they were alarmed to see that in some cases grading was even more stringent than the last set of A-level exams taken before the pandemic, with the proportion of A*-C grades this year lower than those awarded in 2019 because of a sharp increase in the number of lowest grades.

For the first time, more than one in 10 entries in England were awarded an E or U (unclassified), a 10% increase on such grades in 2019. The increase is likely to be the result of more students taking A-levels based on their GCSE results awarded by teacher assessment when exams were cancelled in 2021.

England’s results also showed a large gap in top grades compared with Wales and Northern Ireland, where regulators have taken into account the long-term impact of the pandemic through more generous grading.

Northern Ireland awarded A*-A grades to 37.5% of its A-level entries, while Wales awarded 34% – in stark contrast to the 26.5% in England.

You can read more of Richard Adams and Michael Goodier’s report here: A-level results in England show biggest drop on record

And Alexandra Topping has our live coverage here:

Helena Horton

Helena Horton

Helena Horton, our environment report, has this today:

New offshore windfarms will be strangled by government red tape, costing UK billpayers £1.5bn a year, an analysis has found.

The latest government auction for new offshore windfarms, due to be completed in September, could result in few projects making it through Treasury rules, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a non-profit organisation.

Rules set by the Treasury do not take account of predictions that the gas price will stay high and put an arbitrary limit on the number of farms that can be contracted. They mean that the budget set in the government’s contracts for difference auction is unlikely to be spent, because many windfarms will not get through the auction, so bills will be kept higher.

Despite the fact that the government recently increased the budget for the auction from £170m to £190m, analysts at the ECIU said this was likely to make little difference to the outcome of the auction and ignored the fact that renewables were predicted to save customers money.

Read more of Helena Horton’s report here: UK windfarm red tape to cost billpayers £1.5bn a year, say analysts

Thursday’s newspaper front pages

There was some consternation in the comments yesterday at any passing mention of the football, which is going to make it awkward to do the front pages today, with an awful lot of papers featuring the Lionesses upfront and centre.

The Guardian led with the prime minister promising to protect the pensions triple lock, which could lead to a massive benefits rise given how high inflation is running.

For the Times, it was Sunak’s promises to make tackling inflation his number one priority. Prices are still rising by 6.8% annually, well above the Bank of England target of 2%, but the numbers have started heading in Sunak’s direction.

The Telegraph goes with a heist – no, not the Lionesses against Nigeria earlier in the competition – but at the British Museum.

The Daily Mail also has the British Museum story.

Everybody else is pretty much football, football, football, so I’ll spare you the images and direct you here instead if that is your thing …

Minister: ‘advice from clinical experts’ behind changes to NHS England cancer targets

The health minister Will Quince has claimed the government is scrapping the two-week cancer target in NHS England after clinical consultations.

PA Media reports that he said: “The biggest factor in people surviving cancer is the stage at which they are diagnosed. We have listened to the advice from clinical experts and NHS England to reform cancer standards which will speed up diagnosis for patients.”

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, the national NHS medical director, said: “The NHS is already catching more cancers at an earlier stage, when they are easier to treat, than ever before and the faster diagnosis standard will allow us to build on this excellent progress.

“The updated ambitions will mean the NHS can be even more focused on outcomes for patients, rather than just appointment times, and it’s yet another of example of the NHS bringing cancer care into the modern era of care.”

However, Prof Pat Price, an oncologist, the co-founder of the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign and the chair of the Radiotherapy UK charity, said that while “simplification is welcome”, targets should be higher.

“The faster diagnosis standard is set at only 75%. This needs to be much higher, at around 95%, if we are to get patients through the cancer pathway on time,” she said.

“While great for reassuring patients without cancer, this may not help patients with cancer start their treatment in time.”

Government confirms it is to scrap two-week cancer wait target in NHS England

The government has confirmed that seven NHS England cancer targets are to be scrapped, as the service moves to having three performance standards from October. The new guidelines will move away from what the government termed the “outdated” two-week wait target.

Currently that two-week wait target is not being met. PA Media notes that data published a week ago by NHS England revealed that 261,006 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in June, up 6% on 245,595 in May and 13% year on year from 231,868 in June 2022.

Of the 261,006 patients, 80.5% saw a specialist within two weeks, down from 80.8% in May but below the target of 93%, which was last met in May 2020.

Ten current targets will be consolidated into the following:

– The 28-day faster diagnosis standard, under which patients with suspected cancer who are urgently referred by a GP, screening programme or other route should be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within four weeks.

– The 62-day referral to treatment to ensure patients who have been referred and diagnosed with cancer should start treatment within that timeframe.

– The 31-day decision to treat – patients with a cancer diagnosis, and who have had a decision made on their first or subsequent treatment, should start it within 31 days.

Welcome and opening summary

Good morning, and welcome to Thursday’s politics live blog. Here are your headlines.

  • The government has confirmed that seven NHS England cancer targets are to be scrapped, as the service moves to having three performance standards from October. The new guidelines will move away from what the government termed the “outdated” two-week wait target.

  • Covid vaccines should be made available for people to buy privately in Britain, leading scientists have urged, amid concerns over a new wave of the virus which could worsen in autumn and winter. Unlike flu jabs, which individuals or employers can buy for about £15 from high street pharmacies, Covid jabs are only available on the NHS in the UK.

  • A cross-party group of MPs and peers has urged the children’s minister to demand better data on the use of restraints on young people in care with an aim of ending the “brutal handcuffing of vulnerable children”.

  • War on motorists (by other motorists): A new survey claims that nearly three out of five drivers (58%) want cameras that detect illegally loud vehicles to be rolled out across the UK.

  • New offshore windfarms will be strangled by government red tape, costing UK billpayers £1.5bn a year, an analysis has found.

  • Forty people, including an Olympic gold medallist and a former police officer, are calling on the solicitor general to charge them with contempt of court if he prosecutes a social worker for holding up a placard outside a climate trial.

The big diary event of the day is that A-level grades are out for pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. My colleague Alexandra Topping has got that covered over here:

I’m Martin Belam, and I will be with you today. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.


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